Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (1966–1972)

Description

Pakistan’s first military ruler, Mohammad Ayub Khan, became the country’s first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief in 1951, and subsequently served as defence minister. Following a bloodless coup, he became President on 27 October 1958.

The present volume contains the diaries maintained by Field Marshal Ayub Khan from September 1966 to October 1972, a turbulent period that included Ayub Khan’s yielding of the presidency to Yahya Khan, the end of the unified state of Pakistan and the independence of Bangladesh; and the accession of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The book offers authentic material for scholars, academics, students, and general readers interested in Pakistan’s political history, and will be of special interest to those who lived through those difficult times.

Professor Craig Baxter has included additional notes on prominent personalities and events mentioned in the diaries.

Author Biography

Craig Baxter is Professor Emeritus of politics and history at Juniata College, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a member of his country’s Foreign Service, and in between 1965–1968, he was posted in Bombay, New Delhi, Lahore, and Dhaka. From 1968–1971, he was based in Washington as senior political officer for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was a Foreign Service visiting member of faculty at the United States Military Academy, and has also served as the president of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies. Craig Baxter is author, co-author, editor or co-editor of nineteen books which deal with South Asia, as well as a number articles and chapters in edited works.